St. Robert’s Parish first started out in a small, temporary wooden structure, which was built in a single day in 1912. Three months later the current building was constructed across the street. The new construction included a church and a school for the children. At the time the community of Shorewood was little more than farm fields and some shops. As the city of Milwaukee grew and expanded northward, so did Shorewood.
St Robert's became apart of the community, organizing both religious and non-religious events, even establishing a Boy Scouts of America troop. Additions were made in 1927 and 1937 to the Church and the school to accommodate the influx of members to the parish and student at the school. |
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While the parish enjoyed a long period of growth that spanned several decades, membership has slightly decreased in recent years. Some believe that due to lower membership, the parish isn't as prominent as it once was as a community leader.
However, even with a smaller membership than years past St. Roberts still makes a presence within its community. The parish organizes missions with the Riverwest Food Pantry, Habitat for Humanity, Ladies of Charity, literacy services, various support groups, and puts on many community events such as the St. Robert Annual Fair. |
You can visit and learn more about St. Roberts Parish here.
Project 1
St. Robert Parish first started out in a small wooden structure,
which was built in a single day in 1912. It was located across
the street from St. Robert’s current position. The area around
the small church was predominately farmland with unpaved
dirt roads and wooden boardwalks. In 1912 Shorewood was a
very small community to the northeast of the church’s location
Three months after the small wooden church was completed,
in 1913 construction began on a more permanent dual church
and school building to serve the rapidly expanding community
adjacent to it. The church was situated on the first floor of the
building and the school was located on the second floor. During
these early times of St. Robert’s existence the church had
played a major role within Shorewood’s community. The parish
acted as a nearby school for children, it acted as a community
center for events and special occasions. It also came during a
time when religion was a large part of most people’s lives. The
church played a major part in having community events during
the holidays, recalled the church historian Margaret Sankovitz.
By the mid 1920’s St. Robert Parish was outgrowing its dual
church and school building. At its height the parish’s school
served 1,000 students, which many more parish members
consisting of over 800 families. The parish began searching for
funding to expand to a new chapel building and convert the first
floor of the old building to expanded school space. But, funding
was not found in time before the Great Depression hit, therefore
plans had to be moved out until there was enough confidence
and funds for new construction.
In 1936 financial confidence and funds had been regained so
construction began on a new chapel. The construction on the
current chapel space had been completed in 1937 and was
first used on Christmas morning. The new part of the building
utilizes the same brick building material to tie the two portions,
the older and the new, together. Although, if a person is looking
closely, slight color differences can be noticed in the bricks
of the older original building and the newer chapel. Also, the
chapel has a Lombardy Romanesque style to it.
Although involvement in the community has became more
unnoticed compared to the parish’s golden days, the church
does still make a presence within its community. The parish
organizes missions with the Riverwest Food Pantry, Habitat for
Humanity, Ladies of Charity, and even assisting a community in
Uganda with building a school.
which was built in a single day in 1912. It was located across
the street from St. Robert’s current position. The area around
the small church was predominately farmland with unpaved
dirt roads and wooden boardwalks. In 1912 Shorewood was a
very small community to the northeast of the church’s location
Three months after the small wooden church was completed,
in 1913 construction began on a more permanent dual church
and school building to serve the rapidly expanding community
adjacent to it. The church was situated on the first floor of the
building and the school was located on the second floor. During
these early times of St. Robert’s existence the church had
played a major role within Shorewood’s community. The parish
acted as a nearby school for children, it acted as a community
center for events and special occasions. It also came during a
time when religion was a large part of most people’s lives. The
church played a major part in having community events during
the holidays, recalled the church historian Margaret Sankovitz.
By the mid 1920’s St. Robert Parish was outgrowing its dual
church and school building. At its height the parish’s school
served 1,000 students, which many more parish members
consisting of over 800 families. The parish began searching for
funding to expand to a new chapel building and convert the first
floor of the old building to expanded school space. But, funding
was not found in time before the Great Depression hit, therefore
plans had to be moved out until there was enough confidence
and funds for new construction.
In 1936 financial confidence and funds had been regained so
construction began on a new chapel. The construction on the
current chapel space had been completed in 1937 and was
first used on Christmas morning. The new part of the building
utilizes the same brick building material to tie the two portions,
the older and the new, together. Although, if a person is looking
closely, slight color differences can be noticed in the bricks
of the older original building and the newer chapel. Also, the
chapel has a Lombardy Romanesque style to it.
Although involvement in the community has became more
unnoticed compared to the parish’s golden days, the church
does still make a presence within its community. The parish
organizes missions with the Riverwest Food Pantry, Habitat for
Humanity, Ladies of Charity, and even assisting a community in
Uganda with building a school.
Project 2 |
For this assignment we wanted to look at how the St. Robert
Parish is involved in the community. One of the major ways the parish is involved is through children which attend school at St. Robert School. The school is not just a place to learn; it has other programs within it that allow children to become more involved in their community. We decided that the goal of our assignment would be to create maps that can potentially reveal where students live, and thus where the church is being involved in the community through this aspect. Around ten percent of children attend school kindergarten through high school at a private school. St. Robert Parish has the only private school in Shorewood therefore it is a safe assumption that the ten percent of children going to private school in shorewood attend St. Robert School. In the zoning and population maps, it is evident that housing in Shorewood is not very dense, and is primarily houses with families living in them with some college age students living on the southwestern side nearing UW-Milwaukee campus. The neighborhood is primarily white in race with white families making up 88% of the population and have an average household income of $25,000 - $40,000, and some incomes upwards of six figures. The higher incomes are on the west side of Farwell Avenue nearing the lake, which would also be reflected in housing values. Considering this information, along with the information in the map showing that there are primarily more children ages 0-17 in the northeast part of Shorewood followed by the southeast part of Shorewood, we can conclude that the majority of the children that attend St. Robert School will come from the east side of Shorewood leaning slightly toward the north. |
Project 3 |
Sue Armstrong was once a very dedicated member of St.
Robert Parish. Up until about a year ago she rarely missed a weekend mass service. In Sue’s early life she lived in Chicago, where she met and married her husband, Frank. In the 1960’s Sue and Frank moved to Downer Avenue near UWM campus to start their family. They started all of their children out in St Robert School, but the last three were allowed to choose which school they wanted to go to. While their children were in St. Robert School Sue and Frank served on the Parent-Teacher Committee within the school board. Earlier in their life St Robert Parish played a large role. As her children left the area to chase their own dreams, and with Frank’s death nine years ago, Sue has since began to withdraw some of her involvement with St. Robert Parish. She had also attended different types of churches to see if anything might catch her attention more. A year ago she also had a stroke, which reduced her ability to get out and attend church, but she still attends church once in awhile and goes to events put on by St. Robert Parish. Although Sue’s specific situation spreads little light onto the decreasing membership within St. Robert School and also the Church, we can look to other sources for this. There was nothing but an abandoned railroad and dirt roads in the area immediately around St. Robert Parish when it was first built in 1913. Shorewood and the City of Milwaukee would have to spend time expanding toward and around St. Robert Parish before the community there today could develop. As people moved to the areas getting closer to St. Robert Parish, there was a large influx of people and St. Robert was the only option for a school and church close to home. With the growing population coming to the parish, additions were made to the school and church in 1927 and again in 1937. As time went on and the area developed public schools and different churches were established; more options became available to people with choices on where to send their children to school, where they would like to go to church, and what type of church they would like to attend. During its height St. Robert School had over 1,000 students. Since the options became available for the population to spread out over the school’s student body has dropped down to about 350 students. Despite the parish’s drop in membership, it still remains a prevalent part of the community. St. Robert Parish puts on many programs themselves and sponsors many programs with the intention to help better the community. They have promote programs to help feed poor families, they sponsor Habitat for Humanity, help increase literacy, assist in the adoption process to adopt children, and support groups for people with mental illness. St. Robert Parish also focuses on developing the culture of the community, offering the St. Robert Fair every year, offering a Boy Scouts troop, which also focuses on assisting the community in that program, and putting on holiday events. |
Project 4
St. Robert’s Parish first started out in a small wooden structure, which was built in a
single day in 1912.1 It was located across the street from St. Robert’s current position. As
shown in picture one, the area around the small church was predominately farmland with
unpaved dirt roads and wooden boardwalks. In 1912 Shorewood was a very small
community to the northeast of the church’s location.
Three months after the small wooden church was completed, construction began on
a more permanent dual church and school building to serve the rapidly expanding
community adjacent to it. The church, shown in picture two, was situated on the first floor
of the building and the school was located on the second floor.2 During these early times of
St. Robert’s existence the church had played a major role within the Shorewood
community.3 The parish acted as a nearby school for children, it acted as a community
center for events and special occasions. It also came during a time when religion was a large
part of most people’s lives. The church played a major part in having large, community-wide
events during the holidays.4 The Parish also touched people’s lives in the community
through non-religious means. In 1919 St. Robert established Troop 15 of the Boy Scouts of
America.5 Through the Boy Scouts the Parish was able to indirectly help the community,
while also bringing younger boys into active roles within the community. St. Robert Parish
also sponsored or put on missions for Share-a-Meal programs, various food pantries,support groups, missions promoting literacy and family services supporting foster parents
adoption processes.6
By the mid 1920’s there was a huge influx of people into the area as both the City of
Milwaukee and Shorewood were both expanding towards St. Roberts Parish. Although
mapping of Shorewood was not well covered, the tail end of this expansion and influx of
people can be seen through the series of aerial photos taken in the years between 1937 and
1963. St. Robert was the only school and church nearby and therefore there was also a huge
influx of active members within the Parish. The Parish was outgrowing its dual church and
school building. At its height the parish’s school served 1,000 students, with many more
Church members consisting of over 800 families.7 The parish began searching for funding to
expand the school portion of the building and better serve the education of its children. The
addition was completed in 1927.
In 1936 space was running low again within the school. The construction on the
current chapel space was completed in 1937 and was first used Christmas morning.8
However, soon after this addition, public schools and alternative churches began moving
into the well-developed area around St. Robert Parish. This began to take away from the
Church’s membership and also from the school’s student body. People began to have
different options in the type of church they would like to attend. Parents began to have
closer options to send their children to school. Slowly St. Robert Parish was losing its role as
the active community center.
Although involvement in the community had become more unnoticed compared to
the parish’s golden days, the church does still make a presence within its community. The
parish organizes missions with the Riverwest Food Pantry, Habitat for Humanity, Ladies of
Charity, literacy services, various support groups, and puts on many community events such
as the St. Robert Annual Fair. The difference between then, at St. Robert’s height, and now is
that the community had grown, while the church had begun to shrink.
single day in 1912.1 It was located across the street from St. Robert’s current position. As
shown in picture one, the area around the small church was predominately farmland with
unpaved dirt roads and wooden boardwalks. In 1912 Shorewood was a very small
community to the northeast of the church’s location.
Three months after the small wooden church was completed, construction began on
a more permanent dual church and school building to serve the rapidly expanding
community adjacent to it. The church, shown in picture two, was situated on the first floor
of the building and the school was located on the second floor.2 During these early times of
St. Robert’s existence the church had played a major role within the Shorewood
community.3 The parish acted as a nearby school for children, it acted as a community
center for events and special occasions. It also came during a time when religion was a large
part of most people’s lives. The church played a major part in having large, community-wide
events during the holidays.4 The Parish also touched people’s lives in the community
through non-religious means. In 1919 St. Robert established Troop 15 of the Boy Scouts of
America.5 Through the Boy Scouts the Parish was able to indirectly help the community,
while also bringing younger boys into active roles within the community. St. Robert Parish
also sponsored or put on missions for Share-a-Meal programs, various food pantries,support groups, missions promoting literacy and family services supporting foster parents
adoption processes.6
By the mid 1920’s there was a huge influx of people into the area as both the City of
Milwaukee and Shorewood were both expanding towards St. Roberts Parish. Although
mapping of Shorewood was not well covered, the tail end of this expansion and influx of
people can be seen through the series of aerial photos taken in the years between 1937 and
1963. St. Robert was the only school and church nearby and therefore there was also a huge
influx of active members within the Parish. The Parish was outgrowing its dual church and
school building. At its height the parish’s school served 1,000 students, with many more
Church members consisting of over 800 families.7 The parish began searching for funding to
expand the school portion of the building and better serve the education of its children. The
addition was completed in 1927.
In 1936 space was running low again within the school. The construction on the
current chapel space was completed in 1937 and was first used Christmas morning.8
However, soon after this addition, public schools and alternative churches began moving
into the well-developed area around St. Robert Parish. This began to take away from the
Church’s membership and also from the school’s student body. People began to have
different options in the type of church they would like to attend. Parents began to have
closer options to send their children to school. Slowly St. Robert Parish was losing its role as
the active community center.
Although involvement in the community had become more unnoticed compared to
the parish’s golden days, the church does still make a presence within its community. The
parish organizes missions with the Riverwest Food Pantry, Habitat for Humanity, Ladies of
Charity, literacy services, various support groups, and puts on many community events such
as the St. Robert Annual Fair. The difference between then, at St. Robert’s height, and now is
that the community had grown, while the church had begun to shrink.